Bess Turani Marvin[3] is a main character in The CW's 2019 television series Nancy Drew. She is introduced as a rich city girl with a mysterious past. Bess is portrayed by Maddison Jaizani.
Appearance[]
Bess is a young woman with dark hair, dark eyes, and fair skin.
Character[]
Bess is officially described as "a rich girl with a mysterious past."[4] Bess presents this front to the others, but in reality, she was raised in a bad part of England and is a kleptomaniac. She cares a lot about her looks and dresses very nicely, and she hides the fact that she's living out of a van. Bess strongly believes in the existence of the supernatural and is also easily frightened by ghost-related events. It has also been show that she is a Lesbian as Bess only dates women as shown with Lisbeth (ex-girlfriend), Odette Lamar (kissed), kissed an unknown woman known as Bess' date and causally dating Addy Soctomah.
History[]
Bess Turani was born in the poor town of Tower Hamlets, London, England.[3] She grew up with little means but envied the rich lifestyle of those she saw around her. Her mother, Regina Turani, used to tell Bess stories about a rich American family named the Marvin's who lived in Horseshoe Bay, Maine. Regina claimed to be the long-lost daughter of a Marvin, who was exiled by the family after she married Bess' father - a man of lower class than the Marvin's. However, their marriage didn’t last long as he soon left the family.
When Bess was thirteen, her mother Regina kicked her out of the house which resulted in Bess being homeless. Now in a vulnerable state, Bess met a much older man named Stephen Dowd who convinced her that he was her only chance of having a good life. He took her under his wing and taught her to steal for the sake of furthering his scams. They kept a sham marriage due to Bess only dating women. When she grew tired of the games and scams, she planed counterfeit euros in his bag at the airport to get him arrested. Now free from Stephen, Bess turned eighteen and flew to America to determine if the stories her mother told about the wealthy Marvin's were true or not. She struck up the alias of "Bess Marvin" and fronted as the visiting niece of Diana Marvin, though she secretly lived in a van while waiting tables at The Claw.
In her drafted obituary, Bess wrote, "A true rags to riches story...Her humble story began as a daughter to a single-mother. Bess spent her early years struggling to help keep a leaky roof over heads and tea and Marm in the cupboard. Bess almost accepted that this would be her life, even though she always believed she was meant for something more. Through a twist of fate, Bess discovered she had long, lost dear relatives in the States. The magnanimous Marvin's. Bess' heart urged her to reconnect with this side of her family to get to know them and discover who she truly was and who she was truly meant to be. With her indomitable, fearless spirit, Bess took action..."
Plot summary[]
Season 1[]
Bess Marvin is the newest addition to Horseshoe Bay, Maine, being the niece of billionaire Diana Marvin. Bess secures a job as a waitress at The Claw, though her terrible waitressing skills frustrate her manager George Fan. She finds encouragement in her co-worker, Ace, though she avoids fellow waitress Nancy Drew. During a late shift at The Claw, Bess's knowledge of proper dining is put to the test when Ryan Hudson and his friends enter. After a blackout, Bess, Nancy, George, Ace, and Ned "Nick" Nickerson find Tiffany Hudson murdered in the parking lot. The group is taken into custody as suspects, forcing them to work together to prove their innocence. Bess's wealthy status yet employment as a waitress makes her suspicious to Nancy, who pursues the possibility that Bess murdered Tiffany. This suspicion is heightened when she finds Tiffany's wedding ring in Bess's belongings. In the meantime, Bess befriends Ace and strikes up a relationship with Lisbeth, the Hudson's driver.
Bess is attacked by a vengeful spirit in The Claw, forcing the Drew Crew to recruit George's clairvoyant mother Victoria Fan, who advises the group on a way to force Tiffany's spirit back into her body. At Tiffany's funeral, Bess is left in charge of watching the door to the viewing room while George completes the ritual. Bess leaves her post when she sees Diana Marvin, which confuses Nancy. Bess, who had recently moved in with Nancy after she discovered Bess living in a van, revealed upon questioning that she is an Englishwoman named Bess Turani. She believes she is a long-lost Marvin family descendant and has come to Horseshoe Bay, Maine to learn the truth. She presses that she couldn't possibly have killed Tiffany as she was in the diner, and only stole the ring due to her mild kleptomaniac compulsions, but didn't know that it belonged to Tiffany until they were already suspects. She asks Nancy to keep her secret until she can bring herself to ask the Marvin's for a DNA test. Nancy believes Bess and agrees to keep her secret for now.
With George now possessed by Tiffany's spirit, Bess stays behind during a catering event held by Owen Marvin to help Victoria learn how to exorcise Tiffany. Their plan works and they are able to save George. Bess continues to communicate with Lisbeth until their first date when Lisbeth leaves early. Bess finally works up the courage to tell Owen her story, but he has no knowledge of Bess's mother and though his aunt didn't have children. He believes that this is something the Marvin's would hide and agrees to a DNA test.
Season 2[]
- to be added
The group learned that their visions are portents from the Aglaeca, detailing how she planned to kill them. Nancy is distracted by Detective Abe Tamura, who suspects her in a comatose girl’s accident since her last words before becoming comatose was “Nancy Drew”. She works alongside the Drew Crew to learn that the girl, Amanda Bobbsey, was planning to sell the Drew Crew a mirror allegedly used by the original Women in White. They track down Amanda’s twin brother Gil Bobbsey and save him from the Gorham Wraith, a vengeful woodland spirit that feeds off fear. After saving Gil they learn that the mirror contained a sea shanty that the Aglaeca recorded over. As Nancy and the Drew Crew follow leads to defeating the Aglaeca, a former Aglaeca victim latches onto Nick. They get rid of the spirit but learn that the spirit and the other Aglaeca victims died within seven days of making their deals. With only three days left, Nancy and Ace track down the only surviving Aglaeca victim and learn that he has dodged the Aglaeca by surrounding himself with other angry spirits. He later allows himself to succumb to the Aglaeca’s wrath.
With 46 hours left before the Aglaeca comes for them, Nancy plots with the Drew Crew to build a dybbuk box to trap the Aglaeca, now known as Odette Lamar. Ace builds the box with help from Nick and they add important objects from the spirit’s life. They succeed in drawing Odette to the box, though she destroys it. With only a day left to stop the Aglaeca, and all their plans have failed, the group began to turn on each other, including Bess whose anger over sabotaging her date with Lisbeth is released. She was scheduled to meet Lisbeth’s parents during dinner but Bess flaked at the last minute, as the pressure of the Aglaeca got to her. Determined, Nancy later figures out that they can use the Aglaeca’s portents against her. Everyone goes to the places where their portents take place, and the group admits to one another their regrets just in case. Ace confesses that he hacked into witness protection to get someone’s phone number but didn’t call them. Bess admits to taking Ace’s pocket knife, George’s jewelry, and Nick’s fab, but she wants to try and stop stealing things if she lives. Ace promises to help her.
They use their portents so Bess and the Drew Crew believe they have won until they experience a new death vision of them all on the floor of The Claw having died, as they didn’t kill the Aglaeca only angered her. Nancy later concocted a plan to revert the Aglaeca into her human form, though the blast Odette released upon her transformation threw everyone backward. George was impaled with a harpoon and died in Nick’s arms, surrounded by her friends. Nancy resurrected George using an ancient shroud.
Bess spent the next few weeks in a relaxing state sunbathing on a boat and talking to Ace and Nancy. She returned to Horseshoe Bay and joined game night at the Drew House, where she and the Drew Crew discovered that Nancy had a corpse in her cabinet courtesy of a new paranormal mystery. She didn’t hesitate to jump back into the mystery-solving world as she found it thrilling. She also didn’t think a normal coroner could handle a paranormal case, especially when it’s linked to the Women in White. Once the case was solved, Ace learned that an English man came to town in search of his wife - Bess.
Season 3[]
Bess and her date are showing kissing outside near a large red door. In the end Bess ends the kiss with a blow kiss telling her it was nice to meet her. Bess has a smile on her face with one of her waitress straps down. As she watches her date leave only known as Bess' date
The Drew Crew learns that Temperance Hudson has restored herself to her youthful appearance and returned to Horseshoe Bay, Maine. She saves the Drew Crew from a supernatural attack before delivering ominous futures for each of the Drew Crew in the form of tarot cards. The group isn't interested in Temperance's manipulations and leaves. As Bess begins to date, she finds herself on a dreadful date and uses her friendship with Ace to get her out of it. She discovers a box of chocolates in his car and learns that he's been driving Mr. Bobbsey around town as a favor. She warns him against the favors as she, correctly so, believes he's grooming Ace to be his next mark. Ace discards her advice so she attempts to cast a protection ritual from the Women in White's journals. The ritual goes wrong and Ace begins to have bad luck as he suffers near-death or harmful experiences. He lashes out at Bess when she tells him the truth. She calls Temperance to ask for her help, and learns the proper way to cast the spell. This begins a rather complicated relationship between the pair, as Bess wants to be a Woman in White like her Marvin ancestor. Temperance offers to mentor Bess in witchcraft. Bess also looks after The Historical Society and begins to study the ancient lore within.
As the Drew Crew investigates the Frozen Heart serial killer, Bess feels sidelined by her friends and that her ideas are dismissed. This becomes prevalent when a sleep demon appears and inflicts its victims with deadly dreams that cause them to sleepwalk to their deaths. Bess's suggestion is dismissed by Nancy, and when Bess admits she's been working with Temperance, her friends laugh and belittle her. This forces Bess to finally lash out and leave the group to fend for themselves. She returns to find her friends trapped in their dreams. Because she used a potion to stay awake, per Temperance's instructions, she recruits Ryan's help in enacting her plan. She enters the Drew Crew's dreams and saves them by taking control of her dreams. She then faces off against the demon on the sands of Piper Beach, using her power to visualize what she wants to happen and then making it happen. She succeeds in destroying the demon and saving her friends. Now free, they apologize for their actions and promise to do better in listening to her. Nancy, though she still doesn't trust Temperance, promises to support Bess with her magical journey.
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
- Main article: Bess Marvin (2019 character)/Gallery
Trivia[]
- In the book series, Bess is George Fayne's cousin.
- In The Whisper Box, her alternate reality counterpart is a hippie and an influencer. This is the only alteration who is not directly tied to the book series.
- Unlike her book counterpart, she is a lesbian in the show.
- Coincidentally George was also re-imagined as a lesbian in the 2018 comic while Bess stayed Heterosexual in that media.
- She is descended from the original Women In White.
Appearances[]
Bess appears in every episode of season 1, 2 and 3. As a lead character, she is anticipated to appear in most episodes of season 4.
| Nancy Drew | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | N/A | ||||
| Season 4 | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
[]
Hannah Gruen • Agent Park • Karen Hart • Lucy Sable • Aglaeca • Chief McGinnis • Tiffany Hudson • Harriet Grosset • Katherine Drew • Lisbeth • Laura Tandy • Owen Marvin • Victoria Fan • all
References[]
- ↑ 2.16 The Purloined Keys Her dating profile lists her age as 23.
- ↑ 1.04 The Haunted Ring Her passport listed her birth year as 1999, however her age is shown as 18 in a later episode.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 2.04 The Fate of the Buried Treasure
- ↑ KSite TV: Nancy Drew: Trailer For The CW’s New Mystery. May 16, 2019.